Developing Leaders to Maintain Elite Status

Elite institutions focus on maintaining and protecting their status of being elite. These institutions do this through implementing specific practices and frameworks into the curriculum and school structure in order to continue to have power and to create leaders. Elite schools are known for and pride themselves in preparing their students with specific skills that will allow them to thrive in leadership positions after graduation. However, not everyone who is a part of these elite spaces is meant to be a leader nor wants to be a leader. When reading over the transcripts again from students at the Croft school in Chile, I started to wonder how these students, who don’t have similar desires as the school, feel about being immersed in this elite education system. Through my research, I found that it can be very difficult for these students to feel a sense of belonging when they don’t have the same plans for themselves as these elite institutions have for them.  

The pressure that elite schools put on their students is very significant. Through the curriculum, classroom experience, and community service, teachers push their students to be “great” and to be “doing their best work.” Teachers make it known to their students in these elite schools that they are among the best students and in the best institutions in the world. So in turn, these students feel obligated to prove themselves all the time because not just anyone can be a part of these elite spaces. By encouraging their students to become leaders, it demonstrates how important it is to these schools to keep creating eliteness through leadership. However, I found that the overwhelming amount of pressure they put on their students to become leaders had individuals that didn’t necessarily feel the same way feel like they were “nothing” . When someone doesn’t necessarily see themselves in a leadership role, it can be very challenging hearing “you’re supposed to be leaders!” throughout your entire time at these elite institutions, in this case at the Croft school . I can only imagine that with all these inside pressures and influences, that not “following” the normal path of becoming a leader can take a toll on students and further the divide of elite schools. 

Although elite schools already face divisions with individuals and society outside of these institutions, there are also divisions within them. Sort of continuing with this concept of the “bubble inside of the bubble.” Not wanting to become a leader or pursue a role in a leadership position only creates more of a divide within these elite schools. Not being able to relate with the majority of the students and teachers around you makes you question what you are doing there. That is how both the alumni described it in their transcripts, this idea of feeling like you’re “nothing” if you didn’t want to be a leader . This made it much more obvious that these schools pressure their students to become leaders to maintain their elite status. These schools make it seem like it is for their students when in fact it is to continue to grow their elite image. 

Through my reading of the transcripts, I uncovered that not everyone that is a part of these elite institutions sees themselves becoming a leader after their time there. So in a way forcing the idea of leadership upon the students within the school will result in some form of division and question of belonging. Although it doesn’t seem like a major issue, it is something to take into consideration when thinking about how elite schools go about maintaining and legitimizing their elite status.